Reading Notes #50

Cloud

• 5 Reasons Why Your Company Is Safer in the Cloud - This is only 5 reasons why your data is safer in the cloud but 5 good one. What do YOU do to make your data safe?
• Simple .NET Database Programming using SQL Azure - Nice tutorial to get started with Azure SQL when developing an application.
• Cool Azure InfoGraphic - See how the cloud is creating job...
• Azure Store XRay - Great tool that improve the simplicity to work with Azure Storage Analytics. Available on CodePlex, a project to follow.
• Windows Azure Multi-Tenant (Hosted) Sample - Another nice Codeplex project that will require our attention.
• Outside-the-Box Pizza, Part 5: Hosting the Front End in the Cloud (David Pallmann) - I like this series about buildind a complete application. This post is focusing on how to structure your front end to be cost efficient and stay scalable.
• Announcing New Windows Azure Services to Deliver “Hybrid Cloud” (blogs.msdn.com) - This is a great news! Joy Joy Joy! (this is me dancing the happy dance) When this note will be posted the Meet Windows Azure event will be past, I hope you didn't miss it.
• New - Programmatic Access to AWS Billing Data - Good idea, this could be very useful for a multi-tenant solution. With this tool you can parse your billing data and breakdown the information to generate some invoices.
• Meet the New Windows Azure - Really nice summary of the keynotes. If you can’t watch the video (or want shorter version) then this post is for you.

Programming

• Site44 Turns Dropbox Folders Into Websites - Really good initiative! It couldn't be easier to build AND maintain a web site than doing it using DropBox.... brilliant.
• Using GitHub for Windows with non-GitHub repositories - Get started with GitHub for Windows. This post is doing step by step everything so be connected with a Codeplex project.
• Marked As Pertinent - The perfect post to read when looking for a NoSql (or a key/value store), because this post compare a lot of them.

Miscellaneous

• How to Speak More Strategically (Peter) - Nice post and nice reflection too.
• You're Not Trying Hard Enough (Dave Jafari) - Nice post that explains working harder is less efficient than working smartly.
• It’s not about them, it’s about you - Easier to say then to do. It's true that the ideas of what other people will think is difficult or forget, but if you succeed you will be free.

~ Frank

Reading Notes #49

 

Cloud

• IaaS and PaaS Are Merging – Thoughts on CloudFoundry, Microsoft, Amazon (Xath Cruz) - Windows Azure, Amazon Web Services, VMWare Cloud Foudry are figthing to have the biggest part of the cake... good for us, but it is harder to keep track of all those new services/products.
• Using the Windows Azure Marketplace DataMarket (and Codename “Data Hub”) Add-In for Excel (CTP3) - Nice tool and great idea. Take the well-known tool and extended it with that cloud.
• Managing session state in Windows Azure: What are the options? - This post is answering a very popular question about what is is best way to manage my sessions state... answer it' depends.
• Microsoft Silverlight 5 and Windows Azure Enterprise Integration (Neil Mackenzie) - I also read the preview of this book and I remember it was very promising. It is close to the top of my to-read stack and I will not let go "deeper". I'm happy to found someone else confirm my pre-evaluation.
• Update Your Windows Azure Website in Just Seconds by Syncing with Blob Storage - Great idea! By thinking outside of the box you can do nice things and here a good sample.
• Architectural Patterns for the Cloud (Channel 9) (Anthony de Bruyn) - I know 56 minutes is a bit long but this is a good one. Maarten is doing a nice recap of what is Azure, what working or not working in the cloud and how it's working. The slides are also available to download.
• Think You Know Windows Azure? Think Again (Jonathan Rozenblit) - A lot of new things are coming for Windows Azure in June. Learn all the dates and the details here. The spring is finish in beauty.

Programming

• Quick Status of Your Windows Azure Apps with PowerShell - Really nice script. Thanks Steve!
• Awesome use of AND operator - Be aware of the risk of brain melting. This post explains a clever JavaScript loop.
• OData soumis à l’OASIS pour standardisation (OGDI France Team) - The version 3 of oData will be release soon. This post is an invitation to participate to the standardisation of this great protocol.
• Goodbye Photoshop, Hello Cloudinary (techcrunch.com) - I like the API idea .You can have more functionality in your own application without having to code them.

Miscellaneous

• 5 Ways To Prep For Your Next, Better Job (Alice Korngold) - Nice post, however I would change the title for 5 ways to prep your working life.
• Stop Taking Yourself So Seriously - Good comparison between workout and working. it is not because someone famous is doing something that doing this thing will make you famous.
• Programmers are optimists - Funny and completely thru... What do you think?
• She let me take the computer home. - How did you get started in computers and programming? (Scott Hanselman) - Amazing story about Scott techno-birth. The force was strong in this one.
• 8 Great Twitter Tools You Aren't Using - Great tools to maximize your twitter experience. And some that I didn't know about...
• How to Speak More Strategically (Peter) - Nice post and nice reflection too.

~ Frank

Reading Notes #48

Cloud

• Windows Azure Start-up Tasks Part 1 - First of a series this nice post explain the basics of start-up task when deploying in Windows Azure.
• Windows Azure Start-up Tasks Part 2 - Great post that gives a lot of information on Azure start-up tasks: environment variables, useful xPath query, important tips that will save you a lot troubles.
• Windows Azure Myths - Nice post that demystify 5 important myths about Windows Azure.
• Cloud SLAs: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You - SLAs are an important topic. Here is a good post to have a better understanding of it. This post talk about SLAs in general so you will also need to get more info from your cloud provider.
• Amazon Attracts Windows and .NET Developers to the AWS Cloud (Saroj Kar) - Amazon is really pushing harder to be attractive for the .Net developer. That good news since it will give you more options ;)
• My CDN Progression - Great post about true life experience. This post will definitely help people, looking for a CDN, to take better decision or at least start their search with more wisdom.
• Debugging Windows Azure Web Role Application_Start() method in Global.asax.cs (Avkash Chauhan - MSFT) - Nice quick tips to reach break point in Application_Start().
• 5 Issues Cloud Computing Can’t Solve (Xath Cruz) - The cloud is good but not magic. Here are 5 frequent ideas where in fact the cloud (whoever is your provider) can’t help you.

Programming

• Automating Visual Studio 2010 builds and deployments with Nant.Builder (Iain Hunter) - Really interesting series. The steps are simple and well explained. In the next one deploy to Azure...
• [MONITORING] Les 10 raisons de développer son application en HTML5 (Web App) (Gamorlive) - If you agree with the fact that your user must be connected (like when looking your web site), then here are 10 reasons why you should do your new application in HTML5.
• Le Monkey Patching - I'm new to the idea of dynamic code, and I tend to use it to help me testing/ mocking. These posts illustrate how it could be very useful in other situation.
• Quick Status of Your Windows Azure Apps with PowerShell - Really nice script. Thanks Steve!

Miscellaneous

• I took Hanselman's advice and now look at me... - Nice post a thru story telling how by following Scott Handselman advice someone become more productive.
• Cool Tools: How to Find Free and Cheap Ebooks - Good references of tools to get eBooks and also to search them.

[…]Sources, InkMesh is the best search engine I have found for identifying if an author or a book is available in eBook form,[…]

 
~ Frank